Identification, quantification and analysis of observable anthropogenic debris along swiss river and lakes (IQASL)

IQASL is a project sponosored by the Swiss Federal Office for the environment to quantify shoreline trash along swiss lakes and rivers in the Rhone, Aare, Ticino and Linth/Limmat catchment areas. This is accomplished by conducting multiple small scale and discrete litter surveys throughout the river bassin. The majority of samples are taken from lakes.

What is a litter survey?

A litter survey is the identification and count of all objects found within a delimited area, in this study all surveys were bordered on one side by water. Each object is placed into one of 260 categories¹. The location, date, survey dimensions and the total number of objects in each category is noted.

Purpose of the surveys

The survey results help ALL stakeholders identify the items that make up the mass of trash found in the natural environment on the shores of Swiss lakes and rivers. The surveys answer the following questions:

  • What items are found?
  • How much is found ? (total weights and item counts)
  • How often are these items found?
  • Where do you find the most?

These are the most frequently asked questions and should be considered when determining any mitigation or reduction strategies.

The project is based on the following assumptions:

  • The more trash there is on the ground the more a person is likely to find
  • The survey results represent the minimum amount of trash at that site²
  • For each survey: finding one item does not effect the chance of finding another³

Purpose of this report

Summarize the results for the survey area and define the magnitude of those results with respect to other survey areas.

The survey results are presented as follows:

  • Total object count, total weight and weight of plastics
  • The most abundant objects from the survey area and all the other survey areas sorted by total object count
  • Pieces of trash per meter (pcs/m): the ratio of number of objects found to the length of the shoreline
  • Objects that were found in at least 50% of the surveys

Contents of this report

Scope: description of river basin

  • survey locations
  • lakes and rivers
  • municipalities and effected population

Survey dimensions, locations, aggregated totals

  • weights and measures: cumulative
  • weights and measures: cumulative by water feature
  • survey totals: pcs/m by date
  • material type: % of total

Trash removed: most abundant objects

  • the most common objects from the survey area
  • the most common objects from all the survey areas
  • pcs/m of most common objects for all water features in the survey area

Trash removed the most often

  • objects that are found in more than 50% of surveys
  • objects that are the most abundant
  • objects found in less than 50% of the surveys

Trash removed: utility

  • utility classification: % total of all objects found

Annex

  • effective data: report of missing records
  • survey location coordinates
  • population profile and results by municipality
  • itemized list of objects removed

More information

For more information about the project visit project home.

If you would like more information specific information about this survey area please contact:

  1. Swiss federal office for the environment - Municipal waste section
  2. analyst@hammerdirt.ch

¹ The EU guide on monitoring marine litter
² There is most likely more trash at the survey site, but certainly not less than what was recorded.
³ Independent observations : stats stackexchange

Results: Bielersee

Scope

The Aare source is the Aare Glaciers in the Bernese Alps of south-central Switzerland. The Aare is the longest river entirely within Switzerland with a length of 295 km and drainage area of 17,779 km2. Following the Aare Gorge, the river expands into the glacial Lake Brienz. The Aare is canalized at Interlaken before entering Lake Thun and exiting through the city of Thun.⁵ The river then flows northwest surrounding the old city center of Bern on three sides. Continuing west to Lake Wohlen Reservoir it turns north to Aarberg and is diverted west into Lake Biel by the Hagneck Canal, one of a series of major water corrections made in the 19th and 20th centuries connecting Neuchatel, Biel and Morat lakes through canalization. From the upper end of Lake Biel, at Nidau, the river exits through the Nidau-Büren Canal/Aare Canal.⁶

The Limmat and Reuss rivers⁷, two major tributaries converge into the Aare at the Limmatspitz between the cities of Brugg and Untersiggenthal in Canton Aargau.⁸ The Aare river ends in the north-western region of Koblenz, Switzerland where it joins the Rhine river which eventually terminates in the North Sea.

⁵ The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). Aare River. Retrieved from Britannica.com: https://www.britannica.com/place/Aare-River
⁶ Standard Encyclopedia of Worlds Rivers and Lakes. (1965) R.K. Gresswell
⁷ The Limmat and Reuss are part of different survey areas
⁸ Pro Natura . (n.d.). Limmatspitz. Retrieved from Pro Natura : https://www.pronatura-ag.ch/de/Gebenstorf-limmatspitz

Survey locations, municipalities

For the period between 2020-01 and 2021-04, 4,618 objects were removed and identified in the course of 38 surveys. Those surveys were conducted at 9 different locations. There are 7 different municipalities represented in these results with a combined population of approximately 69,425.0

The municipalities in this report:

Biel/Bienne, Gals, Le Landeron, Ligerz, Lüscherz, Nidau, Vinelz

time to survey meters surveyed m² surveyed total weight plastic > 5mm weight plastic < 5mm weight staff help # samples labor hours pieces of trash
location
Bielersee_Vinelz_FankhauserS 39.67 238 536.0 3.099 1.864 0.000840 12 0 12 39 898
Camp des pêches 3.33 37 93.0 0.045 0.035 0.000000 1 0 1 3 53
Gals reserve 5.00 38 64.0 0.430 0.405 0.000001 2 0 2 5 48
Ligerz strand 5.67 15 49.0 0.295 0.294 0.000000 2 0 2 5 143
Lüscherz plage 9.91 236 517.0 1.570 0.232 0.000030 4 0 4 9 194
Lüscherz two 2.25 21 21.0 0.148 0.100 0.000000 1 0 1 2 8
Müllermatte 59.33 512 4291.0 5.588 3.348 0.001819 14 1 13 59 2964
Nidau strand 3.17 25 105.0 0.130 0.002 0.000236 1 0 1 3 63
Strandboden-Biel 7.15 93 420.0 2.250 0.440 0.000172 2 0 2 7 247

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Survey dimensions, location and aggregated totals.

Cumulative totals all data

The cumulative results from 38 samples, weights are in kilograms, time is in hours

index # samples pieces of trash meters surveyed m² surveyed total weight plastic > 5mm weight plastic < 5mm weight labor hours
summary total
Bielersee 38 4,618 1,215 6,096 13 6.72 0.0 132.0

Cumulative totals by water feature

# samples pieces of trash meters surveyed m² surveyed total weight plastic > 5mm weight plastic < 5mm weight labor hours
location
Bielersee_Vinelz_FankhauserS 12 898 238 536 3 1.864 0.000840 39
Camp des pêches 1 53 37 93 0 0.035 0.000000 3
Gals reserve 2 48 38 64 0 0.405 0.000001 5
Ligerz strand 2 143 15 49 0 0.294 0.000000 5
Lüscherz plage 4 194 236 517 1 0.232 0.000030 9
Lüscherz two 1 8 21 21 0 0.100 0.000000 2
Müllermatte 13 2,964 512 4,291 5 3.348 0.001819 59
Nidau strand 1 63 25 105 0 0.002 0.000236 3
Strandboden-Biel 2 247 93 420 2 0.440 0.000172 7

Survey totals pieces per meter, material type % of total

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The most abundant items

Combined, the ten most abundant objects from Bielersee represent 65% of all objects found on Bielersee.

Of the most abundant objects on Bielersee, 7 are also among the most abundant in the Aare survey area.

  1. Cigarette butts and filters
  2. Food wrappers; candy, snack packaging
  3. Fragmented plastics
  4. Glass or ceramic drink bottles, pieces
  5. Packaging plastic nonfood or unknown
  6. Expanded polystyrene
  7. Industrial sheeting

The most abundant objects: results by survey location

Some objects are found throughout the survey area and some of those objects are found in all survey areas. Knowing which objects are most abundant and what those values are helps idenitify sources or zones of accumulation.

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How often are these objects found?

Some objects are found often and in elevated quantities, others are found often and in small quantities and some times objects are found less often but in large quantities. Knowing the diffference can help find the sources.

Objects found in at least 50% of surveys AND among the most abundant objects found
Combined they had an average pieces per meter per survey of 2.68, a min of 0.05 and max of 10.0

1. Fragmented plastics
2. Industrial sheeting
3. Food wrappers; candy, snack packaging
4. Cigarette butts and filters
5. Glass or ceramic drink bottles, pieces
6. Expanded polystyrene
7. Industrial pellets (nurdles)
8. Insulation: includes spray foams and foam board
9. Cotton bud/swab sticks

Objects found in less than 50% of the surveys AND among the most abundant objects found
Combined they had an average pieces per meter per survey of 0.15, a min of 0.02 and max of 0.39

1. Styrofoam < 5mm

Objects found in at least 50% of the surveys AND NOT among the most abundant objects found
Combined they had an average pieces per meter per survey of 0.56, a min of 0.02 and max of 2.86

1. Foil wrappers, aluminum foil
2. Metal bottle caps, lids & pull tabs from cans
3. Other medical items (swabs, bandaging, adhesive plaster)
4. Tobacco; plastic packaging, containers
5. Plastic construction waste
6. Fireworks; rocket caps, exploded parts & packaging
7. Packaging plastic nonfood or unknown

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Utility: percent of total objects collected

Utility: The utility type is based on the utilisation of the object prior to it being discarded. Objects are placed into to one of the 260 categories. Those categories are grouped according to utilisation.

For example, a piece of plastic would be placed into the category 'Fragmented plastics', depending on its size. However, a piece of plastic that was once a bucket and we know this because we are familiar with either the brand or the product, is placed in a code for buckets⁸.

  • wastewater: items released from water treatment plants includes items likely toilet flushed
  • micro plastics (< 5mm): fragmented plastic items and pre-production plastic resins
  • infrastructure: items related to construction and maintenance of all infratructure items
  • food and drink: primarily single use plastic items related to consuming food and drinks outdoors
  • agriculture: primarily industrial sheeting includes
  • tobacco: primarily cigarette ends includes all smoking related material
  • recreation: includes fishing, hunting, boating and beach related objects, excludes food, drink and tobacco items
  • packaging non food and drink: packaging or wrapping material not identified as food, drink nor tobacco related
  • plastic fragments: foam and plastic fragments of indeterminate origin and use
  • personal items: accessories, hygiene and clothing related

⁸ See the annex for the complete list of objects identified, includes category and group classification

More information

Contact analyst@hammerdirt.ch for any questions about the content of this report. If you would like a report for your municipality contact the Swiss federal office for the environment: Municipal waste section.

Have a great day

This project was made possible by the Swiss federal office for the environment.
This document originates from https://github.com/hammerdirt-analyst/iqals all copyrights apply.
roger@hammerdirt.ch pushed the run button on 2021-05-22.

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Annex

  1. Effective data
  2. Populaion profile
  3. Survey location GPS
  4. Inventory of all objects removed
Effective data

The data is submitted in two parts. If a survey is missing either part we check the paper records and update when possible.

All the surveys found a home in the dimensional data
These dimensional records have been dropped, there is no matching survey data:

('luscherz-plage', '2021-01-26').

Population profile

Survey results for each utility group, sorted by population.

2 3 0
[0 1]

Annex

Survey locations:

latitude longitude city water_name
location
Bielersee_Vinelz_FankhauserS 47.038398 7.108311 Vinelz Bielersee
Camp des pêches 47.052812 7.074053 Le Landeron Bielersee
Gals reserve 47.046272 7.085007 Gals Bielersee
Ligerz strand 47.083979 7.135894 Ligerz Bielersee
Lüscherz plage 47.047955 7.151242 Lüscherz Bielersee
Lüscherz two 47.047519 7.152829 Lüscherz Bielersee
Müllermatte 47.133339 7.227907 Biel/Bienne Bielersee
Nidau strand 47.127196 7.232613 Nidau Bielersee
Strandboden-Biel 47.132510 7.233142 Biel/Bienne Bielersee

Annex

Inventory of all items

item quantity % of total utility
code
G27 Cigarette butts and filters 794 17.2 tobacco
Gfrags Fragmented plastics 748 16.2 plastic pieces
G30 Food wrappers; candy, snack packaging 344 7.4 food and drink
G67 Industrial sheeting 316 6.8 agriculture
Gfoam Expanded polystyrene 186 4.0 infrastructure
G200 Glass or ceramic drink bottles, pieces 177 3.8 food and drink
G941 Packaging plastic nonfood or unknown 172 3.7 packaging non food
G89 Plastic construction waste 94 2.0 infrastructure
G25 Tobacco; plastic packaging, containers 94 2.0 tobacco
G940 Foamed EVA for crafts and sports 92 2.0 recreation
G117 Styrofoam < 5mm 79 1.7 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G213 Paraffin wax 76 1.6 recreation
G74 Insulation: includes spray foams and foam board 73 1.6 infrastructure
G904 Fireworks; rocket caps, exploded parts & packa... 71 1.5 recreation
G112 Industrial pellets (nurdles) 71 1.5 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G95 Cotton bud/swab sticks 65 1.4 waste water
G177 Foil wrappers, aluminum foil 63 1.4 food and drink
G156 Paper fragments 49 1.1 not classified
G106 Plastic fragments angular <5mm 47 1.0 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G73 Foamed items & pieces (non packaging/insulatio... 40 0.9 recreation
G24 Lid/cap rings from plastic bottles/containers 36 0.8 food and drink
G31 Lollypop sticks 35 0.8 food and drink
G23 Lids unidentified 35 0.8 packaging non food
G35 Straws and stirrers 34 0.7 food and drink
G33 Cups, lids, single use foamed and hard plastic 32 0.7 food and drink
G178 Metal bottle caps, lids & pull tabs from cans 31 0.7 food and drink
G211 Other medical items (swabs, bandaging, adhesiv... 29 0.6 personal items
G50 String < 1cm 28 0.6 recreation
G10 Food containers single use foamed or plastic 26 0.6 food and drink
G922 Labels, bar codes 23 0.5 packaging non food
G32 Toys and party favors 21 0.5 recreation
G22 Lids for chemicals, detergents (non-food) 21 0.5 infrastructure
G204 Construction material; bricks, pipes, cement 20 0.4 infrastructure
G137 Clothing, towels & rags 18 0.4 not classified
G21 Drink lids 18 0.4 food and drink
G908 Tape; electrical, insulating 17 0.4 infrastructure
G152 Cigarette boxes, tobacco related paper/cardboard 16 0.3 tobacco
G125 Balloons and balloon sticks 16 0.3 recreation
G159 Corks 15 0.3 food and drink
G87 Tape, masking/duct/packing 15 0.3 infrastructure
G93 Cable ties; steggel, zip, zap straps 15 0.3 infrastructure
G66 Straps/bands; hard, plastic package fastener 15 0.3 infrastructure
G191 Wire and mesh 14 0.3 agriculture
G98 Diapers - wipes 13 0.3 waste water
G927 String trimmer line, used to cut grass, weeds,... 13 0.3 not classified
G923 Tissue, toilet paper, napkins, paper towels 12 0.3 personal items
G3 Bags; plastic shopping/carrier/grocery and pieces 11 0.2 packaging non food
G100 Medical; containers/tubes/ packaging 11 0.2 waste water
G928 Ribbons and bows 11 0.2 not classified
G905 Hair clip, hair ties, personal accessories pl... 11 0.2 personal items
G153 Cups, food containers, wrappers (paper) 10 0.2 food and drink
G142 Rope , string or nets 10 0.2 recreation
G161 Processed timber 10 0.2 agriculture
G70 Shotgun cartridges 10 0.2 recreation
G198 Other metal pieces < 50cm 10 0.2 not classified
G91 Biomass holder 10 0.2 waste water
G914 Paperclips, clothespins, plastic utility items 10 0.2 personal items
G34 Cutlery, plates and trays 9 0.2 food and drink
G942 Plastic shavings from lathes, CNC machining 9 0.2 not classified
G936 Sheeting ag. greenhouse film 9 0.2 agriculture
G4 Small plastic bags; freezer, zip-lock etc. 9 0.2 packaging non food
G96 Sanitary-pads/panty liners/tampons 9 0.2 waste water
G115 Foamed plastic <5mm 8 0.2 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G186 Industrial scrap 8 0.2 infrastructure
G28 Pens, lids, mechanical pencils etc. 8 0.2 personal items
G26 Cigarette lighters 8 0.2 tobacco
G122 Plastic fragments ( >1mm) 7 0.2 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G101 Dog feces bag 7 0.2 personal items
G118 Small industrial spheres <5mm 7 0.2 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G175 Cans, beverage 7 0.2 food and drink
G148 Cardboard (boxes and fragments) 7 0.2 not classified
G165 Ice cream sticks, toothpicks, chopsticks 7 0.2 food and drink
G170 Wood (processed) 6 0.1 agriculture
G939 Flowers, plants plastic 6 0.1 not classified
G48 Rope, synthetic 6 0.1 recreation
G7 Drink bottles < = 0.5L 6 0.1 food and drink
G134 Other rubber 5 0.1 not classified
G68 Fiberglass fragments 5 0.1 infrastructure
G59 Fishing line monofilament (angling) 5 0.1 recreation
G141 Carpet 5 0.1 not classified
G208 Glass or ceramic fragments > 2.5 cm 5 0.1 not classified
G901 Mask medical, synthetic 5 0.1 personal items
G143 Sails and canvas 4 0.1 recreation
G124 Other plastic or foam products 4 0.1 not classified
G203 Tableware ceramic or glass, cups, plates, pieces 4 0.1 not classified
G49 Rope > 1cm 4 0.1 recreation
G116 Granules <5mm 4 0.1 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G20 Caps and lids 4 0.1 packaging non food
G2 Bags 4 0.1 packaging non food
G131 Rubber bands 4 0.1 personal items
G133 Condoms incl. packaging 3 0.1 waste water
G167 Matches or fireworks 3 0.1 recreation
G119 Sheetlike user plastic (>1mm) 3 0.1 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G64 Fenders 3 0.1 not classified
G38 Coverings; plastic packaging, sheeting for pro... 3 0.1 agriculture
G176 Cans, food 3 0.1 food and drink
G194 Cables, metal wire(s) often inside rubber or p... 3 0.1 infrastructure
G158 Other paper items 3 0.1 not classified
G917 Terracotta balls 3 0.1 not classified
G135 Clothes, footware, headware, gloves 3 0.1 personal items
G931 Tape-caution for barrier, police, construction... 3 0.1 infrastructure
G921 Ceramic tile and pieces 2 0.0 infrastructure
G929 Electronics and pieces; sensors, headsets etc. 2 0.0 personal items
G933 Bags, cases for accessories; glasses, electron... 2 0.0 personal items
G930 Foam earplugs 2 0.0 personal items
G103 Plastic fragments rounded <5mm 2 0.0 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G201 Jars, glass or pottery, includes pieces 2 0.0 not classified
G12 Cosmetics, non-beach use personal care containers 2 0.0 personal items
G188 Other cans < 4 L 2 0.0 infrastructure
G182 Fishing; hooks, weights, lures, sinkers etc. 2 0.0 recreation
G155 Fireworks paper tubes and fragments 2 0.0 recreation
G145 Other textiles 2 0.0 not classified
G938 Toothpicks, dental floss plastic 1 0.0 food and drink
G926 Chewing gum, often contains plastics 1 0.0 food and drink
G5 Generic plastic bags 1 0.0 packaging non food
G918 Safety pins, paper clips, small metal utility ... 1 0.0 personal items
G916 Pencils and pieces 1 0.0 personal items
G171 Other wood < 50cm 1 0.0 agriculture
G172 Other wood > 50cm 1 0.0 agriculture
G149 Paper packaging 1 0.0 packaging non food
G197 Other metal 1 0.0 not classified
G202 Light bulbs 1 0.0 not classified
G210 Other glass/ceramic 1 0.0 not classified
G129 Inner tubes and rubber sheets 1 0.0 not classified
G157 Paper 1 0.0 not classified
G36 Bags/sacks heavy duty plastic for 25 Kg or mor... 1 0.0 agriculture
G37 Mesh bags 1 0.0 not classified
G43 Tags fishing or industry (security tags, seals) 1 0.0 recreation
G52 Nets and pieces 1 0.0 recreation
G53 Nets and pieces < 50cm 1 0.0 recreation
G71 Shoes sandals 1 0.0 personal items
G8 Drink bottles > 0.5L 1 0.0 food and drink
G104 Plastic fragments subrounded <5mm 1 0.0 micro plastics (< 5mm)
G90 Plastic flower pots 1 0.0 agriculture
G150 Milk cartons, tetrapack 1 0.0 food and drink
G913 Pacifier 1 0.0 personal items
G41 Glove industrial/professional 1 0.0 agriculture